G7 protesters organizing, say upcoming summit fails to address real-world problems

As world leaders prepare to gather in Kananaskis for the G7 summit next month, some activist groups across Canada say they are planning protests while others say they won't send a large presence to Alberta this year.

Environmentalists, anti-imperialist coalitions and Indigenous advocates, among many other groups, are weighing their options for this year's summit.

Some say the meeting's location in the remote wilderness destination of Kananaskis, about 90 kilometres west of Calgary, poses challenges. 

One major environmental group, Greenpeace Canada, says that's one of the reasons it won't send a large presence to the summit this year.

"It's a long way to go, a lot of carbon to burn, to stand in a parking lot an hour's drive away from where leaders are actually meeting," said Keith Stewart, a spokesperson with Greenpeace.

"We're going to be focusing our efforts on the G7 capitals and trying to make sure that the politicians remember that just because Donald Trump doesn't believe in it doesn't mean climate change has gone away."

Greenpeace is instead mulling the possibility of holding demonstrations in other cities, and will support local groups where possible.

"We'll definitely be making some noise and ... we might have some people in Alberta, but we're not gonna have a big presence there," Stewart said.

"This G7 meeting is likely to be dominated by what to do about Trump. But part of that is, how do we continue to make progress on things like climate change, the affordability crisis, working around Trump and the billionaires backing him?"

Designated protest zones

Officials say a major police presence will be in place during the summit, including officers from RCMP, Calgary Police Service and other agencies.

"Designated demonstration zones" will be set up, including in downtown Calgary. Another zone will be set up near the Calgary International Airport, at the Edward H. LaBorde Viewing Area.

"Creating these locations ensures minimal disruption to critical infrastructure such as roads or highways. These areas also ensure the safety of demonstrators, the public and law enforcement, while providing visible and accessible locations for peaceful assembly," wrote Alberta RCMP Chief Supt. David Hall, in a statement.

There will also be a designated protest zone in Banff, at the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre.

Calgary Police Service Supt. Joe Brar, the G7 event security director, told The Canadian Press that people have the right to assemble outside the demonstration zones. However, police are encouraging the public to gather in those zones for safety reasons, he added.

Some groups uncertain, others plan counter-summit

At this point, some local long-standing protest groups say they aren't planning on attending.

The Lethbridge and Edmonton gaggles of the Raging Grannies, an activist group of older women who use song and humour to promote social issues, said they don't have plans to attend yet. The Calgary Raging Grannies are more likely to have a presence.

But organizing amongst other groups is underway. Shivangi Misra, chair of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) in Canada, said a coalition of groups is planning a two-day counter-summit and rally. 

"There are a couple of programs that are being put together and this is mostly led by people in Alberta," Misra said. "It includes Indigenous groups, climate activists, people's organizations, human rights organizations.

"[They are] coming together to say that [G7 leaders] are not welcome because the policies, the work, the effort, the agenda that the G7 countries are uniting on is not in the interest of the people."

Misra said issues like the cost of living, the housing crisis and migrant justice — among other issues — should be at the top of the agenda for this year's summit.

Changing protest culture

This year's summit comes more than two decades after Kananaskis last hosted the G8 in 2002 in the wake of terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001.

Fearing a repeat of violent confrontations in Italy the year prior, the Calgary Correctional Centre was cleared out in the weeks leading up to the G8 summit to make room for detained protesters. Inmates were sent to the medium-security federal prison in Drumheller. 

That won't be the case at this year's summit.

John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto, said the tone of protest in Alberta at the last summit was civil and friendly.

"One of the smartest things the organizers did was they kept the folks, the heavy police that looked like imperial stormtroopers — you know, with their masks and clubs — in the hotel rooms," he said. "And put on the front lines local police officers on bicycles, wearing shorts … they gave out bottled water to the protesters for free."

Kirton said he expects similar dynamics this time around.

"I think the protests will be [able] to get the message through loud and clear but will not be distracted by any cars on fire the way that the Genoa Summit [in Italy in 2001] had been."

Misra with the ILPS added that many formal and informal groups are still finalizing their plans, with some choosing not to go public yet for safety or security reasons. 

But she questioned the use of designated zones, calling them a barrier to free expression.

"We are exercising a constitutional right to protest. These protest zones fundamentally undermine … the civil and political rights that people have a right to exercise," she said.